2 Upcoming Free Agents the Guardians Need to Let Walk, 2 They Need to Keep

Disappointment? Disaster? Dreadful? Dismal? Distressing? Whatever d-word you wanna use to describe the Guardians' 2023 campaign, I'm sure you'll be picking a negative one.

If you want to think about things more dreamy, delightful or at least dignified for Cleveland fans, then you're probably already looking ahead to the offseason. And the first order of business this winter will be figuring out what we're going to do with our upcoming free agents.

Here are two free agents the Guardians need to let walk, and two they need to keep with a new contract.

Guardians Free Agency: Who to Let Go, Who to Keep

1. Let Walk: Lucas Gioltio

Lucas Giolito came over in the "let's sign 10% of the Angels roster" day a couple weeks ago, and there's just not a lot of reason to try keeping him around for 2024.

I was as excited about the signing at the time as anyone. The "what if we get that Lucas Gioltio back?" potential was tantilizing. But it's not happening, and our talented young rotation is strong enough that it's hard to justify wasting on spot on Gioltio next season.

His dropoff over the last couple years is more than just a climb in ERA — underlying control and velocity numbers back up that there’s a deeper-seeded issue. 

The same potential that made him a fun signing in Cleveland is going to get him paid more than he deserves in the offseason, and the Guardians shouldn't be the team to do it.